I got a box of Speer, 160gr jacketed soft point at the gunshow for my .357 and I can't find any load data for them. The bullet actually looks like a jacketed SWC. Seems kind of strange to me that no body, not even Speer has any info on it.

Thanx in advance
Darrell

So Far I haven't found anything yet either. I haven't explored the internet yet either. You might look at 158 grain data and start at the low end and work up the load...

Thanx for the tip Bushy. That's exactly what I did. I'm trying Lil Gun and I show 16gr-18gr for the 158gr jacketedand I have it at 17.1 gr so far. I'll let you know how they do.

Darrell

BTW, I looked on line and there was nothing about them.

That 160 half jacket goes back a few years. I know I had it in my #9 manual, I'll go look and see if I have it in my #10..... Well I gave my #10 away but I pulled out my #11 and it is there.

They don't list lil gunI'll give you what I have:
Starting loads are 2 grains below listed maximum.
W296 - 17
H110 - 17
2400 - 15.7
Blue Dot - 12
W231 - 7.5

These loads are in 357 magnum and if you want to try to interpolate data the following loads are for the 158 gr from the same manual
W296 - 17.8
H110 - 17.8
IMR 4227 - 17
2400 - 15.9
Blue Dot - 13
W231 - 7.7

I didn't think that Speer was making that bullet anymore. The half jacket design was capable of leaving the jacket in the bore with mild loads and it almost always shed its jacket in game. You boys aren't thinking of hunting anything big with these bullets are you?

I have some old records where I tested these bullets in my Fackler Box for penetration and expansion - I could go and look them up if you are interested.

You're right Paul, they are discontinued so I'll just load them all at 17.1gr of Lilgun and have fun plinking with them. That gives me about a 2" group at 25yards off hand.

As far as hunting, I'm using my Rem. SJHP 158gr loaded with 14.5gr of 2400. They are really close to touching holes at 25 yards pretty much off hand. Bullet holes are only about 1/8th inch apart.

I also have some Speer 146gr JHP/SWC with the same load of 2400 and they do touch holes at 25 yards.

That Taurus is starting to make me smile. It's just starting to get broke in.

I used those 146 grain bullets shooting "Hunter's Pistol" NRA. They were great from my 6" Ruger. They actually were loaded hotter than the 140 jhp Speers. The same caution goes for light loads with the 146 grain bullets. With a full (almost) charge of H110 I got just over 1700 fps with the 146 grain bullets and they were extremely accurate to 75 yards. Somewhere between 75 and 100 yards they dropped through the sound barrier and accuracy at 100 yards suffered for it. They still brought down almost every ram they were pointed at.
Paul

I am no VihtaVuori-agent however; .357 mag 158 gr Speer Hp start: N-110 15,1 gr 1480 fps. max: N-110 16,3 gr 1602 fps. ..160 gr start: N-110 14,1 gr 1496fps Max: N-110 15,3 1597 fps. Ok with revolvers, T/C Contender mild and pleasant.(OAL: 1,575").

Thanks guys for the info. I tried 14.5gr of 2400 with the Speer 146gr seated at 1.535 and had a 25 yard group that was pretty good of hand. Just a sliver of paper between holes with moderate recoil and only slight flattening of the primers and no other signs of pressure. I've heard that Win. primers are prone to show pressure signs faster than Rem. or Fed. do. Either way I'm quite satisfied with the load.

I also loaded up my Rem. 158gr SJHP's with 14.5gr of 2400 seated at 1.58 and had almost the same result. Really nice off hand group. Now I'll have to decide which load to use for hunting.